Leather Lingerie Care
Author: Dagmar Anderson
You’ve bought some nice leather lingerie, so now how do you care for
it? Leather, being skin, needs to have proper care just as your own
skin does. By taking some simple steps, your leather lingerie should
last for many years to come.
The first step in caring for your leather lingerie is proper
handling and storage. Always store leather in a temperature stable
environment, neither too hot or cold, as this will affect the life
of the leather by drying out the oils in the hide. Avoid exposing
your leather garments to high heat or direct sunlight for long
periods of time for the reasons just mentioned. Also, do not store
your leather lingerie in high humidity, damp areas or plastic bags,
as the build-up of moisture can cause mildew (mold) to form, which
is difficult to clean. Either hang leather garments on wooden or
padded hangers or carefully fold them to avoid creases and wrinkles.
Perfumes or deodorants should be applied and allowed to dry before
putting on your leather lingerie to minimize alcohol and other
chemicals contact with the leather and to help avoid staining.
Perspiration or any perfume and/or deodorant should be wiped off as
soon as possible with a damp sponge, then the leather should be
allowed to dry naturally.
Unless your leather lingerie acquires serious stains, necessitating
professional cleaning, you can clean your leather garments yourself.
An excellent cleaner is “Murphy’s Oil Soap”, which works wonderfully
and is gentle on leather, due to it being ph balanced. To clean,
work up a lather of the Murphy’s with a damp sponge and rub gently
into the leather, paying more attention to heavier soiled areas.
Then rinse the sponge well and wipe the leather clean with the damp
sponge. You may have to repeat the process in areas that are more
soiled. Try not to get the leather too wet, as that may cause it to
shrink when it dries. One thing you may notice while cleaning is
some lifting of the dye – this is normal and is simply excess dye.
It should not affect the color of the garment. Allow the leather to
air dry thoroughly, away from heat or sunlight for about 24 hrs.
After that time, the leather may feel a bit stiff and will require a
light coating of leather conditioner. One of the best leather
conditioners is “Passier Lederbalsam”. It’s easy to apply (a finger
works best!) and is specially formulated for fine leather goods – it
also won’t rot the stitching. Never use neatsfoot, mink or other
like oils as they will make the leather over-oily and weak, inviting
mildew to set in. Apply a thin coating of the Lederbalsam to the
leather and let it sit for several hours to allow the absorption of
the conditioner. Wipe off any excess with a clean, dry soft cloth
and you’re done. It would be best to allow the leather to sit until
the next day before use to make sure all the conditioner has soaked
in and the leather is “dry”.
For cleaning of leather lingerie that has fabric incorporated into
the design, you can clean the garment by gently hand-washing it in
cold water using “Pepede”. “Pepede” is specially formulated for this
purpose and is designed to not only clean the fabric and leather,
but also not strip the leather of its essential oils. After gently
rinsing, lay the wet garment on a clean, dry terrycloth towel, roll
it up, then press to squeeze the water out of the garment. Never try
to wring the water out of the leather!! You’ll probably need several
towels to press as much of the moisture out of the leather as
possible. Since you’ve gotten the leather soaked, the leather will
have a tendency to shrink as it dries. The best way to avoid this is
to wear the garment as it dries (you don’t have to put it on while
it’s still quite wet, just while it’s still damp). After drying if
the leather feels stiff, follow the instructions previously given to
condition the leather. Never use a washer and dryer to clean
leather. Also, leather shouldn’t be dry-cleaned as the chemicals
used cause the leather to dry out and crack.
These care instructions apply to all top grain (smooth surface)
leather goods. Suede would be handled and stored the same way, but
not cleaned and conditioned. Suede requires different cleaning
methods not covered in this article. Patent leather is cared for the
same way as top grain leather, but doesn’t require conditioning due
to the lacquer that is used to seal it and give it the glossy look.
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